News of the Neighborhood

Hooray! It's the new year! Hooray!
Did everyone have fun on New Year's Eve? The kids in my neighborhood had a party and they had fire crackers and poppers. I know lots of my pup friends hate those loud noises, but I love them. Every time I heard a bang, I would want to go outside, so mom just gave up and I went to the party with all the kids. It was tons of fun. We rang in the new year in grand style.

Did everyone have a good Christmas. I got a mitten for Christmas. Well, I got a bag of yummy bacon treats and next to it was a white mitten. Mom has a mitten just like it, but this mitten was mine. It was on the floor next to my treats so it had to be for me, right? Now I carry my mitten everywhere I go. Mom says she has a feeling that the Three Kings are going to come and bring me something else to carry because her hands are getting cold. Hey mom that's what pockets are for. Just wear your one mitten and stick your other hand in your pocket. I am not trading my mitten for anything.

Thank you to everyone for all the Christmas trees and gifts. I am going to try to be on Dogster a little more this year.

Our house is filled with hustle and bustle and heavenly scents. Mom and dad are getting ready for the Christmas Holidays.

They may be running behind. It is after all, the night before Christmas and if SpongeBob is correct:" Santa is coming tonight, tonight. Santa's coming tonight".

Do we have a tree? No, Mom and dad, who never throw anything away, managed to throw away the tree a few years ago. Fortunately, they forgot to take down the tinsel and garland and lights from last year. Now, all mom has to do is figure out where she put the extension cords.

Dad is making his world famous chicken wings and the house smells so good, I can't stop drooling. Unfortunately, he is making them to take to a Christmas Party. Mom and him are going to go see Big and Little and Jake and Luke and the girl cousins and their parents and granny and pa for a holiday extravaganza.

Mom went shopping for presents and dad is wrapping them up. I noticed some dog treats in the pile of presents. I tried to steal them, but mom told me they were for me to give to Reese and Shadow and Harley and all of my neighborhood dog friends. But, she gave me some too.

Me and mom went Christmas Caroling when we went for a walk today. Mom could not think of any Christmas songs about doggies so she sang 12 days of Christmas and Jingle Bells Batman Smells. (Funny story. Last year when mom was teaching pre-k, she taught her class that song. Parents complained- like they didn't know that song already).

So we are getting ready for Santa to come tonight. Tomorrow, mom and dad will sing the morning Mass to give the choir a break. And then we will be knee deep in Holiday Cheer.

We wish all of our dogster friends and all of our family and safe, happy, blessed Christmas and a wonderful new year.

I'm back from my super long car ride to see people over the Thanksgiving Holiday. Me and dad and mom went to Grandpa's house. It was a pretty good ride, 3 hours of looking out the car window. I saw some deer on the road and barked at some trucks and motorcycles, but mostly I took a nap once we truly got going.

When we got to Grandpa's house, Uncle D was there. I knew that Grandma was in heaven so I didn't go and look for her, but I still missed her. Grandpa is not really a dog person. He thinks that dogs are animals and animals belong outside. I said OK! I love being outside and Grandpa has a lot of land for me to sniff. But dad had a talk with Grandpa and said that I had to live inside with them, because we didn't want me to get lost. Plus it's a new world and dogs are people too!

On Thanksgiving morning, Dad was up early. He was cooking dinner. Dad is an excellent cook and should open a restaurant, but, he said that would take all the fun out of cooking.(Dad is often invited to parties just in the hope that he will bring his wings).

While dad was busy cooking, Uncle A came. This is my favorite uncle who always comes to visit me. Then Uncle D came back. And Aunt J came with a cake. Yum. Finally, it was time for dinner. Dad was worried that his stuffing wouldn't be as good as Grandma's, but it tasted just like hers. The whole meal looked beautiful, not that I care what food looks like, but it sure smelled good. Of course I got a taste and it was better than delicious!

Dad spent the next day cleaning out Grandpa's kitchen. There was a lot of food in there that Grandpa was not going to cook. There was a lot of food that was old as well. Dad threw away the old food and boxed up all the rest of the food. Then he and mom stuffed all the boxes of food in the car. Then I got in the car. I did not have a lot of room, because the car was stuffed full of kitchen stuff.

We went for a little drive and ended up at mom and dad's old college friends' house. They have a teenage daughter still living at home and two young men who live very close by. Of course the boys stopped over to see me. The girl made a cheese cake that was perfect. I'm glad that cheesecake was good because if you are a dog, this is not the house to hope for food. They are vegetarian! That means they do not eat meat! and the meat they do eat is fake meat made out of vegetables! Thank goodness mom brought lots of treaties for me(and we had a car stuffed full of food from grandpa's house). But besides the food issue, I had so much fun being a college dog.

The next day, we squished into the car and drove home. We didn't not go see maw-maw and pap. I did not get to go to the hunting cabin. I did not get to go and bark at a bear. That's because mom and dad both had to work on Monday. (and also we had a car stuffed full of food that needed to be dealt with). So now I am home. It's back to life as usual. Mom and dad are working and I am guarding the house all day and playing all night long.

And of course we are getting ready for Santa Paws. I'm going to end this entry because I want to practice being extra good.

It started last weekend, when mom said that I was going to have a play date. Yep, my best friend Reese came to spend the night. We had so much fun chasing each other through the house and the yard. Mom put us in the backyard to play and we figured out how to open the door and get out! Of course Reese was a big chicken and just hung out in the garage until mom figured out we weren't where she put us. And I am allowed to go anywhere in the neighborhood, so escaping was just to do something fun.

When Reese went home, mom and dad were cleaning up the house like crazy. I knew me and Reese made a big mess, but did mom really have to get out the vacuum? Well, it wasn't because of the mess that Reese made(I didn't make the mess of course). Mom and dad were just getting the house ready for more company. Uncle! Uncle came to visit us. It was sad because we miss grandma, but I was still very happy to see Uncle and I slept with him every night he was here. Mom and dad had to go to work every day, so Uncle and I just hung out and watched daytime tv. Of course, Uncle went out during the day, too. We live pretty close to the casino, so Uncle was trying his luck.

Then dad had to go out of town for two days. Roger came to pick him up. I was pretty mad that dad and Roger were going somewhere without me. Dad assured me that it was not fun where he was going. It was going to be all work. So for two days it was me and Uncle and mom and we went out for fast food every night. YUM.

On the day that dad got home, me and mom and Uncle were all telling dad how happy we were to see him, how glad we were he was home, how much we missed him, etc. when there was a knock at the door. It was grandpa! and dad and uncle's cousin. They are truck drivers and were on a trip. They were passing through and stopped in. Mom and uncle said it was to wish dad a Happy Birthday, but I know they came just to see me, because dad doesn't like to celebrate his birthday and there was certainly no cake involved.

We visited for a while and then Grandpa and cousin left. The next day Uncle left. I guess I am done with company for a while. But mom said that pretty soon, I was going to go on a trip and get to be company. HOORAY! Car ride coming soon.

Thursday was trick or treat night and I got my share of free candy. (Of course mom took the chocolate away). Mom also had left over cupcakes from her school party so I got one of them. YUM. Then dad dropped some pizza on the floor and you know the rule. Anything that falls on the floor is mine. So I have been a happy puppy.

But that sugar must have kicked in because there was this squirrel running all over the yard, teasing me, taunting me. I couldn't take it any more. So I jumped on him. I caught him. I took a bite out of him. And now he is dead. Yes I am a stone cold killer. (Don't worry I had all my rabies shots). Fear and Tremble before me all you squirrels.

(ok, shhhh! don't tell-Dad took the squirrel and found no evidence of me biting or having the squirrel in my mouth at all. He says it probably died of fright or natural causes.)

BOO! Hope your Howloween was not too scary. Mine was super fun. I remember the first year I came to my forever home and it was howloween. I sure didn't understand what was going on. Why were all these little monsters coming in my yard stealing my candy. But that was a few years ago. This year I knew what was what.

I had an easy costume this year. Dad got all these glow sticks and put them around my collar. Then he tied a balloon with an eyeball on it to my collar. I was a strange eye ball space alien. I know I scared a few people when I was running down the road, because they didn't know the eye ball balloon was tied to me. And when it got dark all anyone could see were the glow sticks. So there was this strange eerie glow running up and down the street.

I did get some candy, although mean ol' mom took the chocolate for herself. But, to make up for that, she gave me my very own cupcake. It was left over from her school party. She even let me eat the icing which was an orange color and my teeth were orange for a while.

We stayed out until trick-or-treat was over and mom and dad said they felt old because now the people who came to the house when they were kids have kids of their own. I say oh well, it's just more people to play with.

But, mom and dad must be old, because they slept in this morning. Just didn't hear the alarm go off and even though I tried to get them up, it was 7:30 before mom realized it. Fortunately, she did not have to work today. Unfortunately, dad did.

One more thing, thanx for all the skeletons. They sure make my page spooky looking and also strangely delicious looking too.

Thank you very much for all the birthday surprises. They were wonderful! I am still celebrating my special day. Mom says it's my birthday weekend. I got to go on Two(that's right TWO 2 T-W-O) Car rides today. I took dad to work and then I picked him up again. He was working at his office the furtherest from home so I got to go through the city and on the interstate. There were lots of good things to see, like big trucks. I would try to catch everyone that passed us.

Then we had pizza for dinner. Yea! Birthday Pizza. And it is nice and cold outside, my favorite weather. I am getting ready for winter by hanging on the porch until I get too cold and then coming in for 5 minutes to warm up my toes. Then I zip back outside again.

Mom says my birthday weekend will continue tomorrow. I hear another car ride is on the agenda. I hope we get pancakes, too.

Today is my birthday!(well, my Gotcha Day)and did mom and dad do anything special for me? You Betcha! I got to be the Princess Doggie today and take a big nap ALL day long, while mom and dad were at work.

When they got home from work, they brought Taco Bell. They got me a taco with no lettuce, cause everyone knows that lettuce just mucks up a good taco. Then mom took me for a walk and "forgot" my leash so I got to run, run run all over the field and as an added bonus, it's cold out so the scent is high. I smelled so many good things.

Then mom and dad told me I had to guard the house while they went out. Huh?! It's my day and mom and dad are going out to some Charity Bingo Party? But, since I am a good girl, I just sat and watched out the window until they came back. And they did, with a lovely gift basket that mom said I could keep anything I wanted in it, but she was hoping I would keep mail in it. Then me and mom and dad ate combos and nutter butter cookies. It was a perfect day almost. Mom says my birthday celebration will continue tomorrow with....A CAR RIDE!WHOO-WHOO! I can't wait.

On Friday, Daddy had his nose operated on-for the second time. He is fine but he took the week off to recover. I had to take care of him, because mom is back at work.

She got the call on Monday asking if she could start on Tuesday. She is still teaching Pre-K, for the same company, but at a different location. She says there is alot of potential and of course the kids are great. But, she is coming in new with the direction to Shake things up. And you know how that can go. Mom has to handle this delicately. Plus it's daycare/pre-k and mom caught the cold that always runs through daycare. So now I had to take care of her as well. I needed some help. Uncle came down to lend and hand and to visit.

Yes, my favorite uncle is visiting. It's a little sad because grandma is in heaven now, so we didn't get her delicious breakfasts. Of course, dad, recovering from surgery, made breakfast for everyone, but it just wasn't the same. Oh well. I still had great fun with Uncle.

Now uncle is getting ready to go home and mom and dad both have to go back to work on Monday(even though it's a holiday) so I am going to go back to my old job as guarding the house while they are away.

Last time I wrote, I wrote about how I kept mom nice and calm when we were having car trouble. Now I am going crazy and if any one has any advice please leave a comment.

I had this very dry itchy skin. It got so bad that I started to loose all of my beautiful golden fur. Mom and dad took me to the doctor and I got some allergy shots and was told I had some food allergies.

We did some expiraments and it turns out that I was allergic to soy. So we found a food that I can eat and I like and we found some treats that I can also eat(and find delicious) and my fur started growing back and I felt better. The last time I went to the vet, she remarked on how good I was doing.

Saturday night, after mom and dad went to bed, I started to go crazy. I ran all over the house. I jumped on all the furniture. I even jumped in bed with mom and dad, and I only do that if one of them is sick. I just couldn't be still. Mom and dad both got up with me to see if, maybe I was trying to tell them something. The house was not on fire, no one was trying to break in, there were no animals outside the house, there were no animals inside the house.

Mom and dad finally gave me some benedryl just to calm me down. And I have started itching again. Mom checked for bugs and gave me flea meds, but I still can't get comfy. My skin has started to get all dry and white and flaky. Mom is going to take me back to the vets to get another shot.

Have any of you pups ever gone through this? What did you do? Whatever happens, I have a feeling I am going on a car ride tonight.HOORAY! to get a shot. BOO!